Giveaway @ Bright Concepts 4 Teachers

Happy Mother's Day! I hope you are enjoying the day with your family! I wanted to stop by quickly and wish Jaime @ Bright Concepts 4 Teachers a Happy Blogiversary!! I'm participating in her fabulous giveaway. Click on the button below to enter! Good luck!

Currently and a Sale!

I am Currently #399 this month.  Oh my word, that’s a lot of linking up!!   

Listening:  I made a new station on Pandora that is a mix of The Vitamin String Quartet and The Piano Guys.  The station plays a lot of popular songs that have been rewritten with a classical twist.  I use the station all the time in my classroom, and it makes great blogging music, too! :)

Loving:  I have a TON of energy from running today!  99% of my Currentlies {hmmm dropping the y and adding ies looks a bit strange here!} have something to do with watching to run… so I a thrilled that I actually ran today!  I went to a metropark by my school with a teacher friend who is a great motivator!  My goal is to run two more times this week… if I put that in writing, maybe I’ll stick to it!

Thinking:  I’m sure you already know about the big TPT Teacher Appreciation sale that begins tomorrow!  All of my items will be 28% off!  Click on the image below to be taken to my shop or see below for a snapshot of some of my products.  Happy shopping!!!

{Thanks to Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah Designs for the adorable sale graphic!}

Wanting:  I need to travel … somewhere… I don’t care where, anywhere sounds good right now!

Needing:  I have been wanting new running shoes FOREVER.  Maybe they will motivate me to run, right?!  Please share any recommendations you have!  The ones I have right now are so heavy… I’m looking for something light, but not completely minimalist.  Please share your favorites!! 

Bucket List:  1)  Again, travel.  2)  Create… art, TPT items, projects I’ve been saving, 7509810 Pinterest ideas!  3)  Serve at church.  I get so busy during the school year, which is really not a good excuse not to serve.  I need to make up for some lost time this summer.

… and now back to the sale! ….

Here are some snapshots of my favorite products!  Click on each image to be taken directly to the product in my TPT Store.

  {Frames by Kyp McLaren, Fonts by Kimberly Geswein}

Happy shopping!!!

A Technology Blog Hop

Spring into Technology with Classroom Freebies!

Several phenomenal teachers, Technology Tailgate Coaches and bloggers are joining forces for an amazing classroom technology blog hop!  As you hop from blog to blog, you will visit some of your favorite blogs and discover a few new blogs too!  Each with a fabulous freebie just for you!

Thank you for hopping over!

Click on the image below to be taken directly to my freebie!  

I used this display for a recent Door Decorating Contest at my school.  My students had a blast creating the iPad!  We even added a real iPad charger as a finishing touch!  Each App starts with the sentence, "iLove 2nd Grade because..."  I plan on keeping the display to hang up for next year's Open House!

  The file includes Apps for K-6, plus a blank App.  You could use the blank App to have your students design an App to show off content they are learning-- All AppBout _______!  I could even see this work for an interactive bulletin board you can display all year.  My students are VERY tech-savy this year and are engaged by iAnything!  Click on the picture below to be taken to the free file!

{Please ignore my bad measuring skills... my students were very disappointed when we had to cut a chunk out of the iPad for the doorknob!  Oops!!}

Thank you so much for stopping by and visiting!  If you are new to my blog and liked what you see, don't forget to follow me!  The next stop on the path is Kristin from iTeach 1:1

In case you didn't start from the beginning, here is an ordered list of all participating blogs!

The Technology Tailgate

Kate from EduKate and Inspire

Kristin from iTeach 1:1

Heidi from Rakis Rad Resources

Leah from Learn With Leah

Amanda and Aylin from Learning to the Core

Nikki from An Uncommon to the Core Teacher

Karla at The Connected Teacher

Shana at Enchanted with Technology

Kristen at Teacher Playground

Jen at Tech with Jen

Kay at A Little Tech

Melanie at I Luv Twek

Carrie and Caitlin at Table Talk with C & C

Lauren at iWonder

Jan at The Science Vault

A special thank you to Jen at Tech with Jen for designing the blog hop button!

Interested in joining our next blog hop?  Join here! 

See you soon for Currently May!!!  25 more days of school for me! :)

April Currently and Goodbye Spring Break :(

I have two days left of Spring Break… so sad!  Of course, I had a rather large to-do list, but as a of today, here is what I have accomplished:

 

Hoping I have two SUPER PRODUCTIVE days ahead  {I probably have high hopes, though!}

Time to link up with Farley for the April Currently!

Listening:  I just downloaded Night Visions from Imagine Dragons.  It’s fabulous.  You should check it out!!

Loving:  I received an iPad for my classroom right before Spring Break!  Since most of you know that I am obsessed with technology, you can probably imagine how excited I am!!  I brought the iPad home over break to start downloading apps and I have a major problem… I am already out of space!!!!  Who knew I could fill up 16 gb in one week?!  Oops.  Time to do some major app evaluation and decide which ones I should keep.  I can’t wait to share some of the amazing apps I’ve found with you! 

Thinking:  I stayed up WAY too late last night.  1:30.  Gross.  And what was I doing up so late?!  I was organizing my blogs on Feedly, of course!  Most of you know that Google Reader is kicking the bucket this summer, so it was time to find an alternative.  I really like Feedly so far!  It has a clean interface and is very customizable!  I spent three hours organizing all of my blogs into folders so I could have some more efficient blog reading time… I’m a dork.  I should post about it soon :)

Wanting:  More spring break, of course!  I have spent about 50% of mine in my pajamas.  The rest of the time, I have caught up with friends, played on my new iPad {just discovered Candy Crush… bad idea!!!}, and spent with my family.  I’m quite concerned that I have to go back to work in 2 days. 

Needing:  Last year around this time, I was very motivated to start running.  I’m waiting for that motivation to kick in again.

Advice:  Whether you’re blogging, pinning, creating items for TPT, or blog stalking, my biggest piece of advice is to remember to balance your time.  I could easily spend all day in front of my computer {not going to lie… sometimes I do!}, but you have to remember to find balance in your life.  There will ALWAYS be more ideas to blog about, 9785028134 new pins to check out, and countless products you want to make for TPT… but in the end, is that really how you want to spend all of your time?  Sure, we’d all like to become millionaires, but there are simply other things in life that are likely more important.  Find out what those things are in your life and focus on them, too. 

Ok, one more thing…

Just have to say congratulations to Nikki from Sent from my iPad for winning my 400 Follower Giveaway!  Nikki has a great blog that is filled with tech tips!  You should stop by and check it out:

400 Follower Giveaway!!!

I am very excited to reach this new milestone!  When I started blogging this summer, I really had no idea what to expect.  Now. blogging has become not only a creative outlet, but also a stress reliever and a way to connect with new friends.  Although I may not be able to post often, I LOVE to read other blogs and connect with other teachers online.  Thank you ALL for following my blog and sharing so many wonderful ideas on your own blog!  Now, onto the giveaway… are you feeling lucky?! 

Check out all of the prizes below!  I had some WONDERFUL blogging friends donate some sweet prizes!  Here is what you will win:

My TPT Store

Live, Laugh, I Love Kindergarten: Blog and TPT

Bright Concepts 4 Teachers: Blog and TPT

Learn with Leah: Blog and TPT

I Teach 1:1: Blog and TPT

Miss V’s Busy Bees: Blog and TPT

Plus, individual prizes from the bloggers below!

{Click on each image to be taken to the product}

{Frames and Fonts for giveaway graphics from Ashley Hughes and Kimberly Geswein}

Enter the giveaway using the Rafflecopter below!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Good Luck!!!

Do you “like” me?

I’m gearing up for my 400 Follower Giveaway and FINALLY created a Facebook page for my blog!  Please stop by and “like” me!  Click on the big “F” to the right or the image below to be taken to my new page!

By the way, be sure to stop by my friend Nikki’s blog for a chance to win an iTunes gift card or lots of other great prizes {including 1 free pick from my TPT Store}!   Be sure to follow her, as she shares many great techy ideas!

3 Tech Resources You Should Know About!

Happy Sunday!  I’m actually not a big fan of Sundays… here’s why:

{Story of my life!!!}  Source: https://www.facebook.com/TeachersWithASenseOfHumor

I woke up with a fever and am feeling crummy today.  This is the third weekend in a row that I’ve felt this way!  Does that happen to anybody else?  I feel great all week and then it hits me on the weekend.  Not cool.  But… better than writing sub plans!

I wanted to stop by today to quickly tell you about three great tech resources. 

1)

Interactive Sites for Education is a mega resource for skill building games for your classroom!  It is not only organized by subject, but also by topic!  For example, here is a screen shot of the math page:

The site has been organized by Karen Ogden, who also blogs here.  I have been using this site during centers and also for fast finishers.  It is also a perfect resource to sent to parents for students who need extra practice at home!

2) Most of you probably know about Shannon @ Technology Rocks, Seriously:

But did you know that Shannon recently started a Google Site to keep track of all of the holiday sites she has been creating?

You have to check it out!  Here is a link to her Saint Patrick’s Day Site!

3) A third site you need to check out is:

Educational Technology and Mobile Learning is FULL of amazing posts about everything up and coming in technology and more!  Here are four recent posts that I loved:

10 Awesome New iPad Apps for Students

Amazing TED Talks Done by Kids

Top 10 Dr. Seuss Quotes for Students

6 Great Apps to Turn Your iPad into a Collaborative Whiteboard

Speaking of technology, there is only one day left to download the free Lakeshore Learning Apps!!  Go get them here!!

Also, if you haven’t heard yet, there is a new website called Educents that will be launching soon!  Kind of like a Groupon for teachers!!  Sign-up below to get a $15 credit to the site once it launches!

Last, but not least, I reached 400 Followers this weekend!!!  Wahoo! 

My giveaway will be launching SOON!  If you are interested in contributing, please comment below or email me at edukate.inspire at gmail dot com by Tuesday evening!  Thanks friends!!